Shorpy is funded by you. Help by purchasing a print or contributing. Learn more.
Our holdings include hundreds of glass and film negatives/transparencies that we've scanned ourselves; in addition, many other photos on this site were extracted from reference images (high-resolution tiffs) in the Library of Congress research archive. (To query the database click here.) They are adjusted, restored and reworked by your webmaster in accordance with his aesthetic sensibilities before being downsized and turned into the jpegs you see here. All of these images (including "derivative works") are protected by copyright laws of the United States and other jurisdictions and may not be sold, reproduced or otherwise used for commercial purposes without permission.
[REV 25-NOV-2014]
Vintage photos of:
New York circa 1905. "Flatiron Building, Broadway and Fifth Avenue." Another view of everyone's favorite proto-skyscraper, at anchor in Manhattan. 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.
The flag at the top right reads: C.G. Gunther. He was a furrier and at one time mayor of New York City.
What about the leg coming out the window two floors up from the sign guy? What in the world is HE about to do?
[Good question. Maybe like all those window-ledge milk bottles we've seen, he's chillin'. - Dave]
It's Harold Lloyd's dad.
Did you notice the man standing on the 2nd floor ledge, right toward the front of the building? I can't figure out what he's doing - any speculation?
[Something to do with that sign. - Dave]
This is a great shot but I'm wondering whats powering all the streetcars in view. Was it an electrified center rail? Couldn't be a cable the way all the tracks are crossing. When did the overhead "trolley" era begin?
[Manhattan streetcars used an underground electrical power supply, accessed through a slot between the rails. - Dave]
Today's Top 5